Sophie Bevan & Sebastian Wybrew
Biography Sophie Bevan & Sebastian Wybrew
Sophie Bevan
Sophie Bevan graduated from the Benjamin Britten International Opera School in 2007 where she studied as a Countess of Munster Trust award holder, Karaviotis Scholar and MBF award holder with Lillian Watson. During her time there she performed the title role in Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea' and Susanna in 'Le Nozze di Figaro'. As an undergraduate, Sophie studied at the Royal College of Music as a Foundation Scholar and during her time there was awarded an ABRSM scholarship, won the Junior Kathleen Ferrier competition, the RCM Concerto competition, a Miriam Licette award for French song and on leaving the RCM was awarded the Queen Mother Rose Bowl Award for excelling in music which was presented to her by his Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.
Sophie sings and records a wide range of concert repertoire both nationally and internationally and she has worked with conductors including Simon Halsey, Edward Gardner, Laurence Cummings, Paul McCreesh, Harry Christophers, Phillipe Herreweghe, Sir Neville Marriner and Sir Charles Mackerras. She is also passionate about her recital work most recently performing a programme of Schubert at the Concertgebouw Kleine Zaal with Malcom Martineau and making her Wigmore Hall recital debut with Sebastian Wybrew in January 2011 to general critical acclaim.
Operatic roles include Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance), Cathleen (Riders to the Sea), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Costanza (Riccardo I) and the title role in Rodelinda. Her most recent operatic roles include Xenia in the new production of Boris Godunov, Despina (Cosi fan tutte) and soprano solos (Messiah) for English National Opera; Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro with Welsh National Opera; Alinda in Vivaldi's L'Incoronazione di Dario, Susanna (Le Nozze Di Figaro) for Garsington Opera, and Polissena (Radamisto) with the ENO and most recently Yum-Yum in Jonathan Miller's production of The MIkado also at ENO.
Amongst other engagements this year, Sophie will perform Pamina (The Magic Flute) at Garsington's new venue Wormsley; tour to Halle with Harry Picket and the English Concert in June and to Boston with Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society in December.
Sebastian Wybrew
was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music with Andrew Ball, Nigel Clayton and John Blakely and has been described by the Telegraph as being "out of the top drawer of young musicians". Since attending the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme at Aldeburgh he has performed as part of the Britten-Pears Orchestra and has given Lieder recitals at the Aldeburgh, Petworth and Sherbourne festivals, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Académie Européenne de Musique, Festival d'Orpheus et Bacchus in Bordeaux and the Victoria International Arts Festival in Gozo. He has given recitals throughout London and England with Dame Felicity Lott, most recently for the St Albans International Organ Festival. He has received plaudits from Classical Music Magazine for his recording of Geoffrey Grey's Partita with trumpeter Simon Cheney and was awarded the accompanist prize at the 2010 John Kerr English Song Competition.
His longstanding duo with soprano Sophie Bevan has led to recitals throughout the UK and Europe, their recent Wigmore Hall debut receiving critical acclaim. Most recently he gave the opening concert for the inaugural year of the Meads Music Festival with baritone Christopher Maltman and future engagements include the John Kerr Prizewinners' recital with soprano Susanna Hurrell.
